Follower assembly for file drawers

ABSTRACT

A file drawer follower assembly which can be released for moving to different positions along the longitudinal dimension of the drawer by downward pressure of the follower plate. The follower assembly locks into its new position when the downward pressure upon the follower plate is released. There are no visible levers or buttons for operating the locking mechanism. The follower assembly includes a base member which slides longitudinally in a channel in the bottom panel of the drawer. A follower plate is carried by an L-shaped bracket extending upwardly from the base member. The connection between the plate and the bracket is such that the plate can slide vertically along a preset distance. The plate is biased to its up position and carries two cam plates which engage transverse sliders mounted in the base member. The sliders are biased to engage the sidewalls of the channel and are disengaged from the channel sidewalls when the follower plate is pushed down.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Murray Rothenberg Pottstown, Pm; Kurt l-l. Burgold, Croton-on-lludson, N.Y.;

Gordon L. May, Morrisville, Pa.

2,906,269 9/ i959 McClellan ABSTRACT: A file drawer follower assembly which can be released for moving to different positions along the longitudinal dimension of the drawer by downward pressure of the follower plate. The follower assembly locks into its new position when the downward pressure upon the follower plate is released. There are no visible levers or buttons for operating the locking mechanism. The follower assembly includes a base member which slides longitudinally in a channel in the bottom panel of the drawer. A follower plate is carried by an L-shaped bracket extending upwardly from the base member. The connection between the plate and the bracket is such that the plate can slide vertically along a preset distance. The plate is biased to its up position and carries two cam plates which engage transverse sliders mounted in the base member. The sliders are biased to engage the sidewalls of the channel and are disengaged from the channel sidewalls when the follower plate is pushed down.

PATENYEI] JAN 4 i972 SHEET 2 OF 2 FOLLOWER ASSEMBLY FOR FILE DRAWERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to partitions or followers for use with file drawers. In a particular aspect, the invention relates to a follower assembly for use with a file drawer for apertured index cards.

File drawers and particularly index card file drawers are generally provided with follower assemblies or partitions movable longitudinally and adjustable to accommodate varying quantities of filed material. Special operating levers are generally provided for locking and unlocking prior art follower assemblies for the purpose of moving the assembly to a new position along the length of the drawer. See for example, Noblett, U.S. Pat. No. 759,392, Weiss et al. US. Pat. No. 983,961, and Watson et al. US. Pat. No. 1,068,190, in which the follower assemblies are locked and unlocked by means of pivoted levers.

Pivoted levers clutter the appearance of file drawers, require extra space for operating, and are relatively complex in construction. An improved follower assembly is illustrated in Andersen US. Pat. No. 2,312,742 where the pivoted lever is replaced by a combination of sliding levers and pivoted latches. The extra space requirement of pivoted levers are avoided to a certain extent but the mechanism is still relatively complex, and the button for operating the sliding lever is still visible and clutters the appearance of the drawer.

The present invention is in line with the recent tendency for drawers of clean and uncluttered lines and provides a follower assembly of simple and clean shape, without any visible buttons or levers, which can be locked in different positions along the drawer by a simple and reliable latching means releasable merely by pressing down on the follower plate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is in a follower assembly which can be locked in different longitudinal positions along a file drawer by means of a simple and reliable latching means. The latching means is operated by pressing down on the follower plate. No externally visible levers or buttons are required.

In particular, the invented follower assembly comprises a base member slidable longitudinally in a channel in the bottom panel of the drawer and having latch means biased to engage the channel sidewalls for preventing longitudinal movement of the base member in the channel. The channel sidewalls are notched and the latch means includes a pair of opposing sliders with teeth adapted to fit within the sidewall notches. An L- shaped bracket is rigidly affixed to the base member and has a portion extending upwardly therefrom and supporting slidably a follower plate. The follower plate can slide up and down with respect to the bracket over a predetermined distance and is spring biased toward its up position.

The follower plate carries operating means in the form of two cam plates rigidly affixed thereto and having cam surfaces which cooperate with cam surfaces of the sliders in the base member to disengage the sliders from the channel sidewalls when the follower plate is pressed down. When the follower plate is released, the sliders again engage the channel sidewalls under the action of spring bias.

The bottom tips of the cam plates carried by the follower plate serve as stops to prevent the sliders from moving out of the base member when the follower assembly is taken out of the channel. A slot may be provided through the bracket and through the follower plate to allow for passage of a guide rod for stringing apertured index cards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a file drawer for apertured index cards embodying the invented follower assembly.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the combination of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4 and showing the latch members of the follower assembly in locked position.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 and showing the latch members in unlocked position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invented follower assembly is designed to cooperate with a file drawer of rectangular cross section which may be an index card file drawer as shown in perspective in FIG. 1. The index card file drawer includes front panel 10, a rear panel 12, a lefiside panel 14, a rightside panel 16 and a bottom panel 18. A guide rod 20 passing through the front panel 10 and extending longitudinally adjacent to the bottom panel 18 may be provided for stringing apertured file cards. A follower assembly generally indicated at 22 may be moved longitudinally in the drawer to accommodate different quantities of filed material.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom panel 18 of the file drawer is provided with a C- shaped channel 24 whose sidewalls 24a and 24b are provided with uniform and sy mmetrical rows of notches 26. A base member 28 which forms a part of the follower assembly 22 fits within the C- shaped channel 24 such that its left and right hand margins 28a and 28b are overlapped respectively by the flanges 24c and 24d of the C- shaped channel 24. The transverse edges of the margins 28a and 28b are contiguous respectively with the sidewalls 24a and 24b of the channel 24 such that the base member 28 can slide freely within the channel. The flanges 24c and 24d prevent the base member 28 from being pulled out of the channel 24. The base member 28 can be extracted from the channel 24 only when moved toward the front end of the channel 24 and aligned with openings 24e and 24f (FIG. 2) at which the flanges 24c and 24d are cut away.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the follower assembly 22 includes an L- shaped bracket 30 whose horizontal portion 30a is suitably afiixed to the base member 28 by means of screws or rivets 32. The upwardly extending portion 30b of the bracket 30 is inclined slightly rearwardly to facilitate looking through a batch of filed index cards. A follower plate 34 is slidably attached to the upwardly extending portion 30b of the bracket 30 by means of connecting means including studs 36. Each of the studs 36 is afiixed to the follower plate 34 and the shank of each of the studs 36 passes through a vertically elongated aperture 38 in the bracket portion 30b. The front end of each of the studs 36 is flared for the purpose of retaining in contiguous relationship the follower plate 34 and the bracket portion 30b. The slots 38 in the bracket portion 30b are somewhat wider than the thickness of the shank portion of the studs 36, and the length of the slots 38 in the dimension perpendicular to the transverse dimension of the bracket portion 30b is sufficient to allow a preselected distance of up and down movement of the follower plate 34 with respect to the bracket portion 30b.

The follower plate 34 is biased toward its up position by means of a coil spring 40 fitted within a cavity 42 in the follower plate 34. The cavity 42 is positioned directly above the top edge of the bracket portion 30b, so that the spring is retained in compression between the top of the bracket and the upper blind end of the cavity 42. The spring 40 keeps the follower plate 34 in its up position (FIG. 7) at which the lower edges of the slots 38 in the bracket portion 301) are adjacent the shanks of the studs 36. The follower plate 34 can be pushed down against the action of the spring 40 to its down position (FIG. 6) at which the upper edges of the slots 38 in the bracket portion 30b are adjacent the shank portion of the studs 36.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-7, when the follower plate 34 is moved vertically with respect to the bracket portion 30b, two integral cam plates 42a and 42b move with the plate 34 and serve to operate a latch mechanism which can allow 44a and 44b to separate and thus engage and lock against channel 24 and can unlock the base member when its is desired to move the follower assembly 22 to a new longitudinal position.

Referring in particular to H08. 5 through 7, the latch mechanism includes two symmetrical sliders 44a: and 44b which are mounted within a transverse channel in the base member 28 for sliding transverse movement. The sliders 44a and 44b are urged in opposite transverse directions toward the channel sidewalls 24a and 24b respectively by means of a coil spring 46 (FIG. 7).

For the purpose of engaging securely the notched sidewall 24a of the channel 24, the outside transverse edge of the slider 44a is provided with two teeth 44c and 44d (FIG. 5) separated by a notch 44a. The teeth 44c and 44d are dimensioned to fit within the notches 26 of the channel sidewall 24a and the notch Me is dimensioned to accommodate a section of the sidewall 24a which is between two adjacent notches 26. Symmetrically, the slider 44b is provided with teeth 44f and 44g separated by a notch 44h.

When the sliders 44a and 44b are in their normally biased positions as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base member 28 is secured against lateral movement between the slider teeth 44c, 44d, 44f and 44g fit within notches 26 of the sidewalls 24a and 24b of the channel 24. When it is desired to move the follower assembly 22 to a new longitudinal position, the sliders 44a and 4412 must be disengaged from the channel sidewalls 24a and 24b and caused to retract inwardly to the positions shown in FIG. 7.

For the purpose of moving the slider 44a inwardly, the slider is provided with a transversely sloping cam surface 460 and the cam plate 42a which is integral with the follower plate 34 is provided with a cooperating cam surface 43c. The cam surfaces 46a and 430 are sloped in transverse cross section.

symmetrically, the slider 44b is provided with a cam surface 46b sloped in transverse cross section, and the cam plate 421: is provided with a cooperating cam surface 43b which is also sloped in transverse cross section.

When the follower plate 34 is pressed down, the cam action between cam surfaces 460 and 43c causes the slider 44a to slide inwardly against the force of the coil spring 46 until the slider teeth 44c and 44:: are out of the channel sidewall notches 26. symmetrically, the slider 44b is pushed inwardly against the action of the spring 46 until its teeth 44f and 443 are out of the channel sidewall notches 26. The follower assembly 22 can now be moved longitudinally to a new position. When the desired new position is reached, the downward pressure on the follower plate 34 is removed, the cam plates 42a and 42b go up with the plate 34 which is moved up by the bias spring 42, and the coil spring 46 is allowed to push out the sliders 44a and 4417 against the respective channel sidewalls 24a and 2411 until the slider teeth 44c, 44d, 44f and 44g engage notches 26 in the channel sidewalls to lock the base member 28, and thus the follower assembly 22, into its new position. If the slider teeth are not exactly aligned with the notches 26, a slight back and forth rocking of the follower assembly 22 results in an alignment allowing the teeth to snap into notches 26.

When it is desired to remove the follower assembly 22 from the file drawer, the base member 28 is moved forward until it is aligned with the sections 24e and 24f of the channel sidewalls 24a and 24b respectively, and is then lifted out.

When the follower plate 34 is in its up position with respect to the bracket 30, the bottom tips of the cam plates 42a and 42b extend below the top surface of the sliders 44a and 44b and serve as stops preventing the sliders from moving out of the base member 28 when the follower assembly 22 is lifted out of the channel 24.

Referring to FIG. 3, provisions may be made in the follower assembly 22 for allowing the passage of a guide rod for the purpose of stringing apertured sheet material. To this end, the bracket portion b is provided with an aperture 52 which allows free passage of the guide rod 20 and the follower plate 34 is provided with a slot 50 which overlaps the aperture 52 and extends above it such that the rod 20 is allowed to pass through the follower assembly 26 in any position of the follower plate 34 relative to the bracket portion 3012.

We claim: 1. A follower assembly for use with a file drawer having a bottom panel with a longitudinally extending channel therein, said follower comprising:

a. a base member slidable longitudinally in said channel and having latch means biased to engage at least one channel wall for preventing longitudinal movement of the base member in the channel;

b. a bracket rigidly affixed to said base member and having a portion extending upwardly therefrom;

c. a follower plate;

d. means connecting said follower plate to said upwardly ex tending portion of the bracket and allowing upward and downward movement of the plate along the upwardly extending portion of the bracket between first and second positions of the plate relative to the bracket; and

e. operating means rigidly affixed to said plate and engaging said latch means for moving the latch means out of engagement with channel walls when the plate is moved from its first position to its second position.

2. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said latch means at least one transversely extending slider mounted in said base member and biased to engage a channel wall.

3. A follower assembly as in claim 2 including in said slider a cam surface and including in said operating means at least one cam plate engaging the cam surface of said slider, at least one of said cam surface and said cam plate sloping in transverse cross section for causing transverse movement of the slider when the follower plate is moved between its first and second positions with respect to the upwardly extending portion of the bracket.

4. A follower assembly as in claim 3 including in said latch means two substantially identical, oppositely biased sliders and including in said operating means two cam plates, each engaging a cam surface of a slider.

5. A follower assembly as in claim 4 wherein said follower plate is further from the base member in its first position than in its second position, whereby the latch means is disengaged upon downward movement of the follower plate.

6. A follower assembly as in claim 4 including in said operating means stops for preventing said sliders from separating from each other by more than a preselected distance.

7. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said operating means biasing means for biasing the plate toward its first position.

8. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said connecting means at least one means for defining an elongated aperture in the upwardly extending portion of the bracket, and a stud extending through said aperture and rigidly affixed at one of its ends to the follower plate, said stud having a flared portion at its other end for keeping the bracket and the follower plate contiguous, said aperture dimensioned longitudinally to allow movement of the plate and the stud with respect to the bracket between said first and second positions of the plate.

9. A follower as in claim 1 including in said plate and in said bracket means defining two substantially overlapping apertures positioned and dimensioned to allow passage of a guide rod when the follower is cooperating with a file drawer, said apertures elongated in the direction perpendicular to the transverse dimension of the plate to allow free passage of the rod in either of the two positions of the plate with respect to the bracket.

: a k a 

1. A follower assembly for use with a file drawer having a bottom panel with a longitudinally extending channel therein, said follower comprising: a. a base member slidable longitudinally in said channel and having latch means biased to engage at least one channel wall for preventing longitudinal movement of the base member in the channel; b. a bracket rigidly affixed to said base member and having a portion extending upwardly therefrom; c. a follower plate; d. means connecting said follower plate to said upwardly extending portion of the bracket and allowing upward and downward movement of the plate along the upwardly extending portion of the bracket between first and second positions of the plate relative to the bracket; and e. operating means rigidly affixed to said plate and engaging said latch means for moving the latch means out of engagement with channel walls when the plate is moved from its first position to its second position.
 2. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said latch means at least one transversely extending slider mounted in said base member and biased to engage a channel wall.
 3. A follower assembly as in claim 2 including in said slider a cam surface and including in said operating means at least one cam plate engaging the cam surface of said slider, at least one of said cam surface and said cam plate sloping in transverse cross section for causing transverse movement of the slider when the follower plate is moved between its first and second positions with respect to the upwardly extending portion of the bracket.
 4. A follower assembly as in claim 3 including in said latch means two substantially identical, oppositely biased sliders and including in said operating means two cam plates, each engaging a cam surface of a slider.
 5. A follower assembly as in claim 4 wherein said follower plate is further from the base member in its first position than in its second position, whereby the latch means is disengaged upon downward movement of the follower plate.
 6. A follower assembly as in claim 4 including in said operating means stops for preventing said sliders from separating from each other by more than a preselected distance.
 7. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said operating means biasing means for biasing the plate toward its first position.
 8. A follower assembly as in claim 1 including in said connecting means at least one means for defining an elongated aperture in the upwardly extending portion of the bracket, and a stud extending through said aperture and rigidly affixed at one of its ends to the follower plate, said stud having a flared portion at its other end for keeping the bracket and the follower plate contiguous, said aperture dimensioned longitudinally to allow movement of the plate and the stud with respect to the bracket between said first and second positions of the plate.
 9. A follower as in claim 1 including in said plate and in said bracket means defining two substantially overlapping apertures positioned and dimensioned to allow passage of a guide rod when the follower is cooperating with a file drawer, said apertures elongated in the direction perpendicular to the transverse dimension of the plate to allow free passage of the rod in either of the two positions of the plate with respect to the bracket. 